


Disjointed

by valda



Category: Welcome to Night Vale
Genre: M/M, Prophecy, Star-crossed love
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-15
Updated: 2015-05-15
Packaged: 2018-03-30 15:03:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 826
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3941260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/valda/pseuds/valda
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cecil swallowed. "Um," he said. "I'm with Carlos--"</p>
<p>He jumped as Earl slammed a hand down on the radio desk. "I <em>know</em>," Earl said, his voice rough. "I know."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Disjointed

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the [kiss meme](http://cosleia.tumblr.com/post/118356362613/send-me-a-number-and-a-pairing-and-ill-do-a). pochimonster asked: 25 Cecil/Earl ("We can never be together" kiss)

"Earl, what are you--"

Cecil was leaned back in his chair as far as it would go, and his chair was bumped up against the radio desk, and there was literally no room to retreat, and this was the sort of situation he'd learned to avoid in the Boy Scouts but somehow he'd forgotten, or he'd never thought he'd be in danger alone in a recording booth with his childhood best friend.

"I can't stand it."

Earl looked--mad? Tired? Sad? Confused? His face twitched with emotion, eyes going soft and then hard again, lips curling in what might have been frustration, eyebrows pinching together, forehead deeply wrinkled.

"I can't stand it," he said again.

Cecil's hands uselessly gripped the armrests of his chair as the other man loomed over him, broad shoulders eclipsing the view of the door. Earl's hands came down onto the radio desk on either side of him, boxing him in.

"Eep," Cecil didn't quite manage to stop himself from saying.

"Do you remember what I said before I was dragged away by those mute children?"

Earl's face was close, so close that his breath rolled hot against Cecil's mouth. Cecil sucked his lips between his teeth and ever-so-slightly turned his head to the side, careful not to break eye contact. He nodded.

"We really could have," Earl said. "We've always... _just_ missed it."

Cecil swallowed. "Um," he said. "I'm with Carlos--"

He jumped as Earl slammed a hand down on the radio desk. "I _know_ ," Earl said, his voice rough. "I know."

Cecil pried the fingers of his right hand loose from where they were clinging to the armrest and hesitantly raised his hand. In a smooth, careful movement, he pressed his palm against Earl's chest, applying just the slightest pressure.

"Earl," he said carefully, "you're making me uncomfortable."

"Masters of us all," Earl hissed. He banged his fist against the desk again, but more lightly this time, then straightened so that he was no longer crowding Cecil.

Cecil sagged thankfully in the chair.

"I'm sorry," Earl said, stepping backward, retreating across the booth. "I don't know what I was thinking. Obviously you have someone. Obviously you don't think of me that way. Obviously you never have."

His eyes, cast down to the floor, were aflame.

Cecil wondered if he should tell him.

"I'll go," Earl said. "And we probably shouldn't do Cooking Stuff anymore."

"There's a reason," Cecil blurted.

"What?" Earl said.

"There's...a reason. That we...can't be together."

Earl stared at him. "What?" he repeated.

"It's not that I don't...I mean..." Maybe this was a mistake. But as it was Cecil might never see Earl again, and he'd only just gotten him back in his life. He took a slow, calming breath, closing his eyes. "You know Old Woman Josie's prophecies?"

"Sure," Earl said, uncertainly.

"She made one about us. Long time ago. We're...disjointed. We don't line up. If we try, we disjoint...everything."

Cecil opened his eyes again in time to see Earl blink, then swallow. "Um," Earl said. "So. I mean. You..."

"Er." Cecil looked away, embarrassed. "Since--since that one night in scouts."

"Cecil," Earl breathed.

"But I love Carlos too," Cecil said, looking back to Earl and standing up from the chair. "Just as much. But in a different way. But I love him." He felt as though he was staring at Earl; grimacing, he looked away again.

"Prophecy," Earl said, and Cecil knew he was probably thinking about how much prophecy had dictated Cecil's life, and how little could possibly be done against it. How nothing could be done, really. He glanced up and saw that Earl was the one with his eyes closed this time.

"There are times," Cecil found himself saying softly, "when I can't stand it, either."

And then he was suddenly crossing the room to Earl, pressing him against the door of the booth, leaning up, rising onto his toes to reach the taller man, his hands coming up to Earl's shoulders.

Earl gazed down at him, and his eyes weren't hard, or soft, or aflame. They were deep with longing and regret.

"I'm sorry," Cecil whispered, closing his eyes against sudden burning.

"Me too," Earl choked out. He wasn't touching Cecil at all. That was probably for the best.

Cecil stepped back, removed his hands from Earl's shoulders. "I still...want to see you," he murmured. "Is that--is that too selfish?"

Earl made a noise that might have been a cough, or a grunt. "No," he said. "That's how I feel." Suddenly he reached out and took one of Cecil's hands, bringing it to his lips. He laid a soft, chaste kiss against the shallow between Cecil's first two knuckles, then let go of Cecil's hand and turned away. "I'll see you next week," he said.

Cecil waited until the door had closed behind Earl before stumbling back into his chair, heart pounding, knuckles burning.


End file.
